Radio Free Heartbreak
by she who laughs
Summary: Ray has been trying to get Lily's attention for years, but every time he thinks he succeeds in winning her heart, she proceeds by blowing him off with some other guy. How does he deal with it? Will our black-haired hero finally give up on his best friend?
1. Ignorance is Bliss

((Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own any of the characters in this story, unless I happen to add in a few extra charries of my own... I hope you enjoy the story!))

It was yet another casual day at Roscoe High, and Ray Brennan couldn't help but smile as he walked once again through the hallways. They were so familiar, and he'd missed them so much over the summer holidays – sad, pathetic, demonic, if you will. All the same, Ray didn't have much fun at home. There was always so much more excitement at Roscoe, and it seemed like his parents were robots compared to his best friends.

Lily Randall, Robbie McGrath, and Travis Strong were possibly the most alive people that he knew – excluding himself, of course. Ray was the talk of the school, the hot-shot, the skeptical jester. He'd actually been considering that nickname when they first started RFR, their radio station that let them express their opinions freely without worrying about being harassed back at school. Personally, Ray loved it.

Walking happily up to his locker, he drew out a wrinkled piece of paper from his jean pocket. 4... 28... 32... The locker wouldn't open. Oh, Ray had always been horrible opening those metal demons! Sighing angrily, he slid down the wall after trying numerous times.

Only seconds later, he hurried to stand up and try again, for a certain Lily Randall was walking his way. Oh, he'd had feelings for her as long as he could remember, but he'd only admitted them to anyone since the previous year. He'd told Robbie, his second-best friend. Travis had always been strange to him, but maybe that was just because he liked Lily as well, and that showed competition that could potentially harm their friendship forever.

"Having problems, trooper?" Lily asked, that loving grin that Ray had always connected her to was plain upon her face. She sat next to him, holding her books heavily in her right hand. "Ready for school to start again? I know I'm not."

Ray shrugged, his heart beating as he felt her shoulder against his. He'd known Lily forever, why was he so nervous? "I dunno. It's sort of like a mixed feeling, I guess," he concluded, his black hair falling into his eyes. "Pronto hasn't decided." Ending that with a goofy grin, he leaned into the lockers, closing his eyes.

The two sat there for a minute or two, not speaking as people walked past them, hurrying to their first classes. Ray opened his eyes again to find Lily's head soft on his shoulder, her dirty blonde hair trailing down his chest. He blushed, and his heart raced even faster, a smile on his face. Lily's eyes were closed, and Ray was shaking as he placed his hand on her head and rubbed it through her hair.

It was then that Travis Strong walked by, and Ray felt a bit of disappointment and heartbreak as Lily got up immediately, rushing over to meet the blonde boy. "Oh, Travis, how was your summer?" She asked, paying no more attention to Ray, who sat on the floor even now, staring at the floor.

Sometimes it felt like Lily just wanted to use him for his affection, and Ray hated it. He watched as Travis grinned and pretended as if the Arab weren't even there, avoiding his presence as much as possible. It hurt Ray's heart so much to see the two together, looking so happy... And then there was him. Alone in the world.

Forever.

((A/N: Short and sweet first chapter. More later, read and review please!))


	2. Curious Bystander

_I cried out with no reply,_

_But I still feel you by my side._

_I'll hold tight to what I know,_

_That I'm never alone._

- Barlow Girl, 2003

Chapter Two: Reassurance

A yawning Lily Randall flipped through the pages of her binder as she sat in her desk, unprepared for English to start. There were two minutes left until class started, and yet the sandy-haired sophomore kept falling into her subconscious, hardly able to keep her eyes open. She kept staring at her blank pieces of paper, wondering what sort of work they'd be doing this year. As she flipped through the pages, however, a crumpled piece jumped out to her eyes. It was in a handwriting that she couldn't place, and Lily was eager to read the note.

_Lily Randall,_

_I don't suppose you'd have any plans for later this evening? Come to Mickey's at 7:30, just before the fourth act. I'm looking forward to seeing you._

_Sincerely,_

_Secret Admirer_

At that moment, Ray Brennan sat the far corner of the classroom, directly opposite of Lily, watching while his heart raced as she read the note he'd written months ago. It had taken him this long to finally give it to her, even though it would have been just as decent to give it to her before. But now he was ready. He had a plan. He could only faintly hear the bell that signaled the start of class, and he smiled to himself as he sat up, ready to learn... Well, not really, but he had an excuse. He _was _Ray, after all!

The door slammed, and Ray felt his attention drawn away from Lily to his other best friend – none other but Robbie McGrath. His hair was even more floppy than usual today, and as he took a seat next to Ray, he couldn't help but smile. "Hey, haven't talked to you in like... a week!" Robbie grinned, rummaging through his backpack to find his notebook.

Ray shrugged jokingly, but his eyes kept being diverted to Lily as she reread his note over and over, obviously trying to figure it out. She'd always been one to decipher things – one of the reasons that Ray had tried so hard to make his handwriting different than usual. Lily had photographic memory, or so she claimed. "Yeah, and the Brennan residence was so 'happy' without you there," he replied, grinning as he used his salesperson expression. Ray had always been good at expressions, although Lily had always hated them. It kind of hurt his feelings, but he'd learned not to say anything to her about them.

Too bad, though. He could never use Cowboy Slim around her again.

"What're you staring at?" Ray looked up to see Robbie asking him this for the fourth time, and apparently Ray had spaced out while thinking of Lily. The black-haired boy watched his friend grin. "Oh, I see."

Robbie had looked over to Lily as well, mimicking Ray's 'love gaze.' It was at that moment that Lily turned around to see them both resting their heads on their hands, a loving expression on their faces. Ray had to hold in his laughter, but eventually let it out anyway, Robbie joining in. The blonde rolled her eyes, a smile on her face that Ray would always remember.


	3. Too Fast for Words

Mickey's Lounge was riveting with all of the visitors it was getting tonight. The windows were crowded by signs saying things like 'Lily Randall Live' and 'Meet Our Star Tonight!' Ray had just finished putting them up, and although Lily had never liked being the center of attention, he was just another one of those oblivious men that didn't really pay attention to what their loved ones _really _wanted. So he made them in hope that Lily would shine.

"Come see Lily Randall tonight! Fourth act!" He called to passersby on the streets, grinning wide. He had loved the cornstalk yellow-haired girl so much, and Ray was actually proud of himself for doing this. It had taken a lot of psychological arguing just to make him come tonight. "Lily Randall! She's going to be the best act of the night!"

"What do we have here?" He heard an eerie voice in the distance, one that sounded both friendly and distant at the same time. Glancing up, Ray's eyes narrowed. Of course, Travis. Of all people that could have come, it just had to be him. Ray had always pretended to be his friend around Lily to make her feel better, and he wasn't sure if they were or not, but Travis always seemed to hate him for some reason or another. Besides, it was fun to make fun of him. "I didn't know Lily was performing tonight."

Ray shrugged, pulling ideas out of the top of his head. "I guess she turned around," he replied, glancing at his watch. The last thing he wanted was to promise everyone that Lily would be coming tonight and have her not show up. Besides, it'd hurt his own feelings as well, even if she couldn't possibly have known who wrote the anonymous note that afternoon. He felt a sly grin coming onto her face as his eyes wandered over to Travis. "Unless she just didn't want to tell you."

He'd always been rather cruel to Travis, but how could he possibly help it? After all, the blonde had always betrayed him when he knew which moments were special to Ray, stealing away the spotlight, taking away all that he had worked so hard toward... Take, for instance, Lily. Ray had been best friends with her for years, and as _soon _as Travis found out about his feelings for her, he had to compete. Maybe that was what annoyed Ray so much about the boy.

"Or maybe she just wanted _you _to come and see that she isn't coming," Travis added harshly before walking inside, leaving Ray out in the dusty street, a glare in his frostbitten eyes.

Ray grunted angrily. He wasn't sure if he ought to hate Travis or like him for being friends with Lily, but either way he was quite angry at him at the moment.

It was just then that his eyes caught sight of a certain Lily Randall singing to herself as she walked toward the lounge, and Ray felt his body freeze for a moment before he rushed into the building, taking a rushed seat next to Travis (and not exactly liking it, either). Lily walked in only seconds later, smiling at the two of them. Oh, joy.

"Li-" Ray started, but Travis cut him off.

"_Lily!" _ Travis called, grinning. Ray tried to play along, but he could only sigh in embarrassment. "So, what song are you performing tonight?"

He wanted to slap that kid in the face. Did he have to mess _everything _up?

"He means," Ray corrected him, staring Travis dead in the face. "That you, uh..."

He was at loss for an explanation, but he wasn't going to give up that easily. "Uh, Lily, can I, uh, talk to you for a minute?"

Lily gave him a look of concern before following Ray to the back of the building, Travis looking very impatient. "What is it, Pronto?" She grinned, but he could sense her worry. She'd never been one that enjoyed the performance aspect of singing, or so Ray could tell. But it was his job to wear her in, right?

"Uh..." Ray started, his heart racing at a rapid rate. "I... I don't know."

Lily's eyebrows narrowed, and Ray wetted his lips quickly before taking in another breath, prepared to try again. "Well, uh, why did you come tonight? Weren't you going to sing?"

The girl looked as if she were about to faint. "What? I wouldn't sing here in... in a long time!" Ray had to hold in the urge to laugh at Lily's inability to think of excuses as well. It was kind of cute, really, which wasn't a word that he used often. "And why do you care about why I'm here?"

"No reason, I just... uh..." But it was at that time that a booming voice came over the speakers, the microphone giving a bit of screeching feedback for a moment, causing the two to cover their ears in pain.

"And our next performer, the exceptionally talented _Lily Randall!" _ It was Mickey talking, and Lily's face went white.

Ray hadn't been expecting it to happen so fast, but he plastered on a winning smile and grabbed a guitar from the side of the closet next to him. "Here's your guitar, I went and picked it up last night. Uh, break a leg!" He said, pushing Lily away as fast as he could. "Well, not 'break a leg,' but you know what I mean..."

"I can't do this!" Lily pleaded as she stepped a bit closer to the stage, terror in her normally lovely eyes.

"Yes, you can!" Ray reassured her, but he wasn't so sure if she would go through with it. "You're Lily Randall, you can do anything!"

He watched as a shade of rose came to her face, and his thoughts crumbled as she started to walk back toward him. "No!" Ray told her, practically yelling over the clapping and cheering. "You can do this, I know you can! I love you!" But the 'you' in that sentence was cut off. He'd been throwing out random words out of his head, and that wasn't what he had planned on saying. This time, _his _face blushed, and his heart rate

She froze.


	4. Beautiful Letdown

Ray watched in horror as Lily literally _froze _on the stage, holding her guitar as if she were about to smash it on the ground. It seemed like she had hated the news, even if he had been working up four years' worth of courage just to let that sentence out, to get it out of his system, to _let her know. _After all, if he were a girl, _he'd _want to know if someone felt that way about him...

His eyes scanned the audience, making contact with Travis, who was sitting in a concerned state for Lily, but Ray felt as if the man would never truly understand her. Then again, this was coming from a guy that couldn't get Lily to like him in the first place.

"C'mon, Lil, you can do this," he muttered under his breath, watching from the side of the stage and biting his lip nervously. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he would've been better off if he had just moved on and tried to get a girlfriend to get his mind off of Lily. But either way, everything had happened, and he couldn't turn back time. He had to do something, and it had to happen fast.

Ray felt a sly smile coming to his face as he peeked into the closet.

Meanwhile, Lily was standing onstage looking as if she were about to scream. Mickey kept looking at her in the silence and trying to signal her to go, but every time she tried to move her fingers, it was like they were frozen into ice cubes, unable to touch the guitar's strings. She pushed her hair behind her shoulders and finally cleared her throat, her voice shaky and small. "Uh, h-hi..." She started, an attempt of a weak smile on her light-toned lips. "I'm Lil-Lily Randall, and I think that I'm, uh, s-supposed to be doing something... for you... so..." She searched for something else to say, but no words would come out.

At that moment, Ray Brennan burst out of the curtain with an acoustic guitar on his knee, carrying a stool to sit on. After taking a seat, he looked over at Lily, his heart racing with nervousness. With that, he started to sing, playing a few moderate chords as he went.

_The days wash on to nights_

_And the moon's still watching over us_

_Seeing as we lay _

_Under the stars._

He felt a foolish grin come to his face, and a bit of scarlet rising to his cheeks. Playing a background, Ray couldn't keep his eyes off of Lily, and although he wouldn't allow himself to look at Travis, he could only picture his expression. Oh God, was Ray making a fool of himself? Was Lily going to hate him for this?

_Well, I don't know much about what you desire_

_But I know one thing – you make me burn like fire..._

_They say heaven on earth doesn't exist, they say heaven on earth doesn't exist, _

_But how do they know when they haven't met you?_

'_Cause the whole world's spinning and I just keep on winning_

_Every day with you._

Ray glanced over at Lily, his grin gone, and finally he laid down his guitar on the stage, looking her in the eye and praying to death that he wouldn't mess up. Singing a capella, Ray finished, a look of determination in his brown eyes.

_The days... wash on to nights..._

_And the moon's still watchin' over us..._

_Seeing as we la-ay... under the stars._

He ended with a grin, the entire lounge bursting into claps of applause and shrill shrieks of happiness. Ray felt himself blush as Lily looked over at him, a slight smile on her face, tears in her eyes. Glancing into the audience, he caught Travis's eye, and something about it told him that he wasn't too terribly happy. They'd always competed for Lily, but Ray felt like he'd won a thousand times just from this one experience. It wasn't something he was going to forget anytime soon.

What the audience didn't know? Ray had just written that song as he came onto the stage, making it up as he went. Not knowing what to do, Ray walked out of the lounge, grabbing his coat and stepping out into the cool breeze, his face damp with sweat.


	5. Too Far From My Eyes

"Good morning, students of Roscoe High!" Ray had to cover his ears as a most annoying voice blared over the intercom just before first period. "I would just like you to know that we are helping to host a summer camp later this year. If anyone is interested in becoming a counselor, please see me."

Ray laughed, motioning to Travis, Robbie, and Lily, who sat somewhat near him. "Who would want to do _that?!" _ He broke into a chain of laughter, but it faded as his eyes fell upon Lily's expression.

"Actually," she said quite cheerily, "I was thinking of applying."

That shut him up, and Travis, who sat just beside him, punched him playfully in the side. "Nice going, Pronto." Ray could only glare.

What if Travis got Lily after all? What if all of his goals had mounted to this – to... well, nothing? Oh, it bothered him. Well, at least class was starting. Maybe that would divert his mind a little.

"Today," their elderly teacher told them, her gray-white hair falling into her eyes. Mrs. Laverde was a substitute, but after their permanent teacher's skiing accident, it appeared that she would be there a long while. Not that she hadn't been there long enough already, in Ray's opinion. "We will be learning about the works of Willam Shakespeare. Now, I'm – ahem.. _positive _that you've heard of many of his writings."

Oh, had they. Their previous teacher, Mr. McGaughy, had given them numerous tests and written work for the ancient writer, and Ray had hated every bit. His worst fears had been confirmed, however, when Laverde proceeded with the following. "So, I've decided – ahem... to do a play. Not just _any _play. Why, it'll be an extravaganza!"

The whole class was silent as their substitute laughed, her white ringlet curls bouncing with her every step. "Ahem... Well," she started again, in a much more solemn and professional manner. "We will be performing the classic _Romeo and Juliet_, one of Shakespeare's most well-known pieces. Practices will be starting tomorrow after school, and all of you are _required _to attend."

She smiled a cocky, two-tooth smile, and Ray couldn't help but smile anyway. Mrs. Laverde was funny in her own way.

But he watched in horror as she proceeded to pull out a long white piece of paper from her desk. The cast.

"Here is this year's cast. I will post it in the front of the classroom, and all of you may look at it for your viewing pleasure in a few moments."

Oh, but she just had to keep them waiting. Ray watched in eager anticipation as Laverde posted the sheet up on the wall. Thoughts raced through his head, strange mini-movies of the final kiss being shared between Ray and Lily, and Travis being completely out of the picture. Ah, heaven.

Finally, the woman stepped away and bowed. "Groups one to four," she called, and a groan shattered the silence from the other groups that hadn't been called. Ray watched as Lily and a few other girls walked up, as well as the group of jocks that he had so wanted to be a part of the previous year. Nah, they were too feminine for his liking now, with their fancy jackets and expensive cologne. It was just plain wrong.

But he could've cared less about the jocks. He was watching Lily's expression, and he felt his heart race as her lips curled into a soft smile, and she looked back at him with a delightful look on her face. Obviously she had gotten what she wanted.

"Groups five to ten," she called, and Ray, Travis, Robbie, and a few other groups stood up and rampaged their way to the front. This is what the paper looked like.

_Romeo and Juliet _

_CAST_

_Lord Montegue: Robbie McGrath_

_Lady Montegue: Lauren Kuenzi_

_Tybalt: Jonathon Edwards_

_Balthasar: Michael Rands_

_Abram: Landon Cambridge_

_Juliet: Lily Randall_

Everything relied on the last two parts. The only people missing were Travis and Ray.

_Mercutio: Ray Brennan_

That meant... that meant that Travis... he had to be Romeo. Was that what Lily had been so happy about? Oh God, he was such a pathetic idiot... to think he'd be Romeo...

Slowly, Ray returned to his seat, a grim look on his face. Lily grinned as he passed, and he felt as if he were going to throw up. "Isn't it great, Ray? We all got main characters!" Lily just seemed so happy, so enthusiastic. "And Travis and I have the lead!"

"Yeah, that's just... great..." Ray replied dully, opening his notebook to get the previous day's notes. Had she not noticed _anything _that had happened the last night?

((End! Anyway, this chapter kind of sucked, but oh well... Read and review please! There's going to be at least 4 or 5 more chapters. YAY!))


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